In the parlance of any decent influencer I started my barefoot journey just over a year ago now. While my Plantar Fasciitis (PF) hasn’t gone away completely it definitely has improved. In the last couple of months I’ve gone full barefoot with all my shoes now in a zero drop, minimalist style with a proper vivobarefoot hiking boot being the latest addition.

While my feet haven’t yet developed the typical full-on toe spread associated with barefoot shoes they have definitely changed shape and are now considerably wider.

Starting back to cycling at the beginning of September it soon became very clear that my snug, narrow cycling shoes were now in serious need of replacement. It also became clear that wide cycling shoes aren’t that common which surprised me. Sidi seem to be the main brand specialising in wide fitting cycling shoes but they’re a lot more expensive than I wanted to be spending!

My first port of call was Amazon for a cheap option.

I quite liked these. They were comfortable and looked nice. However, the soft sole meant there was too much flex and I could feel the cleats through the sole. Not a problem for a beginner but anything over 40km and I could see these causing foot ache. The soles are set up for MTB or road cleats with permanently attached receivers for the MTB cleat screws. However, these are mobile when wearing road cleats meaning I could hear them rattling when peddling fast. Finally, I felt the quality of the upper was too cheap with a soft leather look PU material that would damage quite easily. I tried them for one ride but then sent them back. Amazon’s return policy being the main reason I was happy to give these a trial.

Option 2 was from Decathlon.

I liked these. The fit was pretty good and I liked the feel of the materials and the stiffness of the sole. The single boa fastener was easy to use and held the tension nicely but it was still a bit narrow in the toebox. For the cost I wanted something more comfortable.

The third and final pair I tried came to me even before I picked up the Decathlon shoes. I’d been trying to think of options and remembered that Paul had recently bought a pair of gravel/MTB shoes from Planet X. A quick browse of the site had two options. I was really drawn to the Carnac Prove but the tab at the front really put me off

Despite the price difference I decided the Carnac Baroudeur Carbon were a good punt.

I’ve been wearing these for a good few weeks now and have completed a number of 50K+ rides and I’m finding them very good. They’re not perfect and I don’t know how I’d get on with them on a long day but I’m happy with them. The Boa laces work well although they do seem to lose a tiny bit of tension after 40K. Not enough to cause issues but I haven’t been able to check if they do actually loosen as I’ve been wearing overshoes on each ride. I’m getting a couple of hot spots on both feet but I think that may be how I have the cleats set up rather than the shoes themselves combined with the long time I was off cycling. The sole is nice and stiff and they feel good so I think I’ve found the winners. If I ever get back to long distance Audax cycling then I might consider looking at Sidi again but for now these will do the job.